Big skates to fill for B's
Steve Pavao
Issue date: 11/20/08 Section: Sports
This is going to hurt. This is a thought that probably went through a couple heads on Thursday night at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston.
It was most likely on the mind of Bruins defensemen Andrew Ference's mind when he was nailed with the puck after Montreal Canadiens' Andrei Markov fired a slapshot wide of the net, striking Ference in the tibia.
Ference went down in a heap, but was able to actually make a clear and skate off on his own power. But General Manager Peter Chiarelli saw this incident and eventually found out that Ference, Boston's leading player in plus/minus (9), had broken his tibia and would be out for the next 6-8 weeks, he had to come up with a way to replace Ference in the lineup, whether it be a callup from Providence or a trade. This is going to hurt.
During Thursday's 6-1 rout of the Canadiens, everything was looking in sync. Players on the fourth line were scoring goals, such as Shawn Thornton and Stephane Yelle (2 goals, actually). Milan Lucic was continuing to pound opposing skaters and even contributed a goal himself right from a faceoff, and Manny Fernandez showed that even though he's officially a backup, he's only one in name.
After making 27 saves that looked almost effortless, Fernandez proved that either the Bruins have a two-headed monster in their net, along with Tim Thomas, or that some other team in the NHL has realized their new number one goaltender is in New England.
With the game well in hand and everyone in the crowd ecstatic over the win against the team's most hated rival, the first in 13 regular season games, it was tough to even think about or remember the moment Ference went down and barely came up. However, the pain of Ference's tibia would be felt just two days later in New York against the Rangers.
The Bruins had their five game win streak on the line when both they and the New York Rangers stymied each other in the first period of Saturday night's game because of their cautious defensive play.
It was most likely on the mind of Bruins defensemen Andrew Ference's mind when he was nailed with the puck after Montreal Canadiens' Andrei Markov fired a slapshot wide of the net, striking Ference in the tibia.
Ference went down in a heap, but was able to actually make a clear and skate off on his own power. But General Manager Peter Chiarelli saw this incident and eventually found out that Ference, Boston's leading player in plus/minus (9), had broken his tibia and would be out for the next 6-8 weeks, he had to come up with a way to replace Ference in the lineup, whether it be a callup from Providence or a trade. This is going to hurt.
During Thursday's 6-1 rout of the Canadiens, everything was looking in sync. Players on the fourth line were scoring goals, such as Shawn Thornton and Stephane Yelle (2 goals, actually). Milan Lucic was continuing to pound opposing skaters and even contributed a goal himself right from a faceoff, and Manny Fernandez showed that even though he's officially a backup, he's only one in name.
After making 27 saves that looked almost effortless, Fernandez proved that either the Bruins have a two-headed monster in their net, along with Tim Thomas, or that some other team in the NHL has realized their new number one goaltender is in New England.
With the game well in hand and everyone in the crowd ecstatic over the win against the team's most hated rival, the first in 13 regular season games, it was tough to even think about or remember the moment Ference went down and barely came up. However, the pain of Ference's tibia would be felt just two days later in New York against the Rangers.
The Bruins had their five game win streak on the line when both they and the New York Rangers stymied each other in the first period of Saturday night's game because of their cautious defensive play.
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